Ghosts of Averoigne

nduring the lukewarm water that turned colder as time went on. She soaped herself up with one hand and brushed her teeth with the other. It was awful. Kara hated cold showers more than anything, especially after sex. If there were a hell, she once thought, cold showers would still be included as daily punishment.

Last night…

Last night had obviously been a mistake. She knew that now. Hell, she knew it then, too, but it still hadn’t stopped her.

You had a moment of weakness, Kara told herself. That ghost-woman screaming in your face? She threw you off guard.

It was a point she couldn’t really argue with. Since joining the Hallowed Order, Kara had seen some incredible things. Some wondrous and even downright frightening things. But nothing that had interacted with her as directly — and jarringly — as last night.

Long ringlets of dark hair lay plastered against her shoulders as she washed the soap and shampoo from her body. The shower was small, and cold, but at least the water pressure was good.

Logan…

Despite trying to avoid the subject, her mind eventually wandered over to the elephant in the room. Kara gave it a lot of thought, mulling the whole thing over in her mind. She tried to rationalize what happened, in both directions, while finishing up her shower.

Sleeping with Logan was a mistake, but that’s all it was. They’d gotten stuck in a room together, through no fault of their own. They’d shared a bed together. They’d fucked. Big deal.

Get over it.

Kara recalled the nineteen-year old version of herself as rather dramatic. But now, at twenty-five, she was a woman. She wasn’t some lovesick child who couldn’t handle rejection. Or at least what she perceived to be rejection.

“You’re here to do a job,” she told herself out loud. “Now start acting like a professional.”

Xiomara would be proud. Then again, Xiomara would also put her shoe in Kara’s ass if she knew what happened last night. Logan’s too.

But hey, didn’t you beg her to send you alone?

Yes, she certainly had. That little nugget of recollection made her feel better about the whole thing. In fact, Xiomara was the one who’d put them together in the first place. It seemed strange now, that in all the Order, the one person she’d be paired up with for this assignment was Logan. Logan, who’d only just arrived at Blackstone Manor. Who’d been summoned there specifically to go with her.

Did she plan the whole thing?

It was hard to say. Xiomara had impeccable foresight, and Kara had seen her do some impressive things. Either way, Logan was a good investigator. Skilled and thorough. She’d seen what he could do firsthand, and for that at least, she had respect for him.

But for now… the Averoigne.

She decided right then and there to forget last night. To push it aside, as a professional — not to mention an adult — should.

Stepping out of her very unfulfilling shower, Kara toweled off and dressed quickly. There were answers downstairs, and she meant to have them.

But there was coffee too, and that would be her first priority.

Eleven

Out in the hallway, the old hotel was bustling with activity. The main elevator was full as she passed it, so Kara headed toward what had been labeled — at least on her hotel map — as the ‘grand staircase’.

She turned a sharp corner… and bumped straight into Logan.

“Whoa!”

He was holding a cardboard tray, with two full coffees lodged at opposite ends. He stopped short so abruptly Kara could hear the liquid sloshing around inside.

“Hey,” he said simply.

“Hey.”

There was an awkward pause, and then Kara took her coffee. She sipped it and winced.

“Black, no sugar?” he said with a raised eyebrow. But Kara shook her head.